Military equipment maker Lockheed Martin has broken ground on a 255,000-sq. ft. facility in Orlando.

The $50-million expansion project is designed to support operations of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC), which is engaged in the designing and development of advanced combat, missile, rocket, manned and unmanned systems for customers including the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and allied nations.

At the Orlando site, MFC manufactures different equipment for the aerospace and defense industry using technologies related to electro-optics, millimeter wave radar, image and signal processing, advanced materials, electronic packaging and large-system integration.

“The Research & Development II building underscores our customer commitments to provide the most modern facilities for our talented workforce to produce critical capabilities for the U.S. and allies for years to come,” MFC executive Vice-president Frank St. John said in a news release.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin announced plans to hire about 1,800 people over the next two years, of which about 500 will be based in Orlando.

“I am proud to announce Lockheed Martin is continuing to invest in Florida by creating 500 new jobs as part of their expansion in Orlando. Lockheed Martin is already a major job creator for our state, and our commitment to cutting taxes and making Florida business-friendly is making it easier for this global business to continue to create thousands of opportunities for Florida families,” Florida governor Rick Scott said in a statement.